OP needs to reply if he wants help

all theyre doing is pressuring me into the arms of AMD

Stop justifying arbitrary product segmentation. Maybe intel shouldnt release a useless refresh. Maybe intel should value the return business encouraged by good customer will.

I know I wont be a return customer if they behave like this.

If they do not rectify this (give APO to 12th gen) then this will be my last intel cpu (i5-12600k)

AMD is so close in terms of pricing and performance that it is an easy switch for me.

My next platform upgrade will be AMD if Intel doesnt desire my return business